Italian ministers and European Union officials gave a cool reception to a proposal by Matteo Renzi that Italy flout the EU’s fiscal rules for the next five years. Renzi, proposed Italy should run a stable budget deficit of 2.9 percent of gross domestic product for five years instead of trying to lower the deficit towards zero. Source Reuters
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country will consider returning the two Greek soldiers who have been detained in Turkey if Greece extradites the eight Turkish servicemen who sought protection in the country after the foiled coup attempt in July 2016, Source Ekathimerini
Speaker of the State Duma (the lower house of Russia’s parliament) Vyacheslav Volodin is pressing for the introduction of a ban on carrying out US sanctions on Russian soil and did not rule out criminal liability for its breach. Source Tass
The European Commission on Thursday criticized the behavior of a Serbian lawmaker who trampled on the Croatian flag in the Serbian parliament. As a result of the incident, which took place Wednesday, a delegation from Croatia canceled the rest of their visit to Serbia, whose aim was to improve relations between the Balkan neighbors. Source: Politico
